Monday, November 12, 2012

Pain in the elderly

Persistent
pain in the elderly is a multifaceted problem, and should be managed with
pharmacological therapies and non-pharmacological treatments.

ACROSS the globe, persistent (chronic) pain is one of the most
common reasons for the elderly to seek consultation with healthcare
professionals.

Persistent pain, by definition, continues to affect the person
for prolonged periods of time, and may or may not be associated with a
well-defined disease. Different bodies have different defined persistent pain
of various durations, ranging from three months to over a year.

Persistent pain manifests in various forms. Among the elderly,
persistent pain is frequently associated with musculoskeletal disorders, such
as a degenerative spine condition and osteoarthritis. Nighttime leg pain, pain
from claudication, cancer pain, neuralgia secondary to diabetes mellitus,
amputation, peripheral vascular disease, herpes zoster, and pain due to trauma,
are common as well.

Notably,
persistent pain also affects Malaysian senior citizens. According to the
Community Oriented Programme for the Control of Rheumatic Diseases (COPCORD)
Study in Malaysia, pain rates increase with age, with up to 53.4% in the age
group of more than 65 years experiencing pain.

Low back pain, knee pain and joint pain are the most common
complaints among those studied.

The most common disability in the Malaysian survey is inability
to squat (3.1%), largely due to knee joint symptoms.

In fact, it is not surprising to observe such a trend, as the
average life expectancy of Malaysians has increased. In 2010, approximately
5.1% of the Malaysian population consisted of people aged more than 65 years.

The increasing prevalence of weight problems (overweight and
obesity), diabetes mellitus and cancer worldwide, adds to the pain problem.

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